The FIFA Women's World Cup is an international association football competition contested by the senior teams of the members of FIFA. The championship’s inaugural tournament was held long after the first men’s tournament, in 1991, and has been awarded every four years since then.

•    The inaugural tournament in 1991 In China was won by the United States.

•    The current title holder is Japan.

•    The United States and Germany have won the championship twice, and Norway and Japan once each.

•    The current format of the tournament involves 24 teams divided into six groups, competing for the title over a period of about four weeks.

History and Origins

The tournament was originally the brainchild of the then FIFA president João Havelange. The inaugural tournament was hosted in China in 1991, with only twelve teams. The 1995 FIFA Women's World Cup was held in Sweden with twelve teams also.

The 1999 and 2003 Women's World Cups were both held in the United States. The 1999 final had an attendance of 90,185, a world record for a women's sporting event.

In 2003 China was supposed to host it, but the tournament was moved because of SARS. As compensation, China retained its automatic qualification to the 2003 tournament as host nation, and was automatically chosen to host the 2007 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Germany hosted the 2011 FIFA Women's World Cup, as decided by vote in October 2007. In March 2011, FIFA awarded Canada the right to host the 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup.

Until the 2015 tournament, only 32 countries have participated in FIFA Women's World Cup (7 from AFC, 5 from CAF, 4 from CONCACAF, 4 from CONMEBOL, 11 from UEFA and a team from OFC).

Format

The final tournament will feature 24 national teams divided into six groups of four teams. Each team plays one match against each of the other teams in the same group.

The winners and runners-up from each group, as well as the best four third-placed teams, will qualify for the first round of the knockout stage.

The ranking of each team in each group will be determined as follows:

1.    Greatest number of points in group matches

2.    Greatest goal difference in group matches

3.    Greatest number of goals scored in group matches

If more than one team remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined as follows:

1.    Greatest number of points in head-to-head matches among those teams

2.    Greatest goal difference in head-to-head matches among those teams

3.    Greatest number of goals scored in head-to-head matches among those teams

If any of the teams above remain level after applying the above criteria, their ranking will be determined by the drawing of lots.

The knockout stage is a single-elimination tournament in which teams play each other in one-off matches, with extra time and penalty shootouts used to decide the winner if necessary. It begins with the round of 16, followed by the quarter-finals, semi-finals, and the final.

Results

•    1991 in China: The United States beat Norway 2-1 in the final. Sweden took third place and Germany finished fourth.

•    1995 in Sweden: Norway beat Germany 2-0 in the final. The United States took third place and China finished fourth.

•    1999 in the United States: The host country beat China in a penalty shoutout. Brazil took third place and Norway finished fourth.

•    2003 in the United States: Germany beat Sweden 2-1 in the final. The United Stated took third place after beating Canada 3-1.

•    2007 in China: Germany beat Brazil 2-0 in the final. The United States took third place and Norway finished fourth.

•    2011 in Germany: Japan won the tournament. The United States finished as runners-up, Sweden took third place and France finished fourth.

Individual Awards

•    The Golden Ball for the best player.

•    The Golden Boot (also known as the Golden Shoe) for the top goalscorer.

•    The Golden Glove Award for the best goalkeeper.

•    The FIFA Fair Play Award for the team with the best record of fair play.

•    The Most Entertaining Team Award for the team that has entertained the public the most during the World Cup.

•    An All-Star Team consisting of the best players of the tournament.

Records and Statistics

•    Marta from Brazil tops the all–time Women's World Cup goalscorer list, with a tally of 14 goals scored in three World Cup championships, alongside German Birgit Prinz who scored the same number, but in five World Cup championships.

•    The closest rival to Marta for the top scorer of all time is Abby Wambach, with 13 goals scored also in three championships.

•    Birgit Prinz holds the record for most appearances and achievements in the tournament, where she competed in five FIFA Women’s World Cup. With Germany, Prinz is a two-time world champion.

•    Kristine Lilly is the FIFA Women’s World Cup’s all-time appearance leader.

FIFA Women’s World Cup Canada 2015

•    The 2015 FIFA Women's World Cup will be the seventh FIFA Women's World Cup. The tournament will be held from 6 June to 5 July.

•    The tournament will use the Hawk-Eye system as goal-line technology for the first time.

•    Six Canadian cities were selected to host tournament matches.

•    On 17 June 2014, the mascot of the tournament, Shuéme, a female great white owl was unveiled.